The name FoodRepublik was birthed in an airport in Malaysia when my husband (Chris) and I (Camilla) were sitting around waiting for a flight and talking about food. I hadn’t slept in about 30 hours, was a bit wired on coffee, and I ended up ranting quite a bit about how the elitism of “foodism” irks me sometimes. You know – the name-dropping, the rare ingredients, the 500-dollar meals, the slight aroma of condescension… I think we could do without that whole rarefied atmosphere that makes the art of enjoying food so inaccessible to so many people.
Chris listened, and when I had gotten off my soapbox, he said, “Maybe you should call your food blog ‘Food Republic’”. And that is how it started. FoodRepublic.com cost a hundred bucks, so we decided to do FoodRepublik.com instead. We liked the Europeen vibe, and Republik is the German spelling, which is kind of fitting since Chris’ Mom’s side is German.
So here we are. Having a blog is fun for me since I can see the progress I’ve made as a cook, and keep track of recipes I’ve liked. And if you enjoy the recipes too, well that’s just swell too.
About Me
My name is Camilla Cheung, and I teach an oral English university class in a smallish town called Xiamen in Southern China. It is located right across the channel from Taiwan, and thus has some Taiwanese influences (oyster pancakes, anyone?). It is also a 10-hour bus ride from Hong Kong, somewhat convenient if I want to visit my relatives there, watch my uncle cook, and partake of some awesome dim sum.
My culinary history ought to be exciting – I’m of Chinese descent and grew up eating Asian food, I lived in France for 2 years and experienced all the requisite feasts of fat things, I lived in Toronto for 15 years (the mecca of authentic ethnic food), and I’ve traveled all over the world with my globe-trotting husband – but really I only got into cooking in the past year. It just suddenly blossomed for me. The ironic thing is that living in China means my kitchen is literally the size of a closet, and my kitchen appliances are limited to a single induction hot plate, a rice cooker, and a toaster oven. Literally.
I do some freelance writing as well, writing travel articles and stories for various websites. For more information about my writing, please check out my portfolio.
Contacting Me
You can contact me at foodrepublik [at] gmail [dot] com, or leave a comment on the post you are interested in.
Hello Camilla,
I’m dying to make your upsidedown plum cake, but would like to know the approx. weight of your Chinese block of butter. I live in Aust. with grams, but can convert oz.
Regards, Diane
hi Diane. I think the blocks we get are about 227g. I believe that the amount of butter called for in that recipe is about 1/4 cup (1 US stick of butter = 1/2 cup). Hope that helps!
Thanks Camilla,
It certainly does. I’ll let you know how it turns out, but I’m sure it will be delicious, even with my cooking!
All the best, Diane
Hi Camilla,
I just found your blog from tastespotting and I love your angle. I travel with my “day job” around Asia and am always finding inspiration, like you, in my travels. Your food looks gorgeous and I am excited to read more of your blog and try some of these recipes. Great blog.
Your blog is really nice, pictures are so cool.
Just a question, do you really cook all from only a single induction hot plate??
It is surreal! Would you have picture link of your kitchen work plan?
I really do. It’s not as difficult as it seems. But actually we’re in the process of moving back to the States, so I don’t have a pic handy right now. Maybe I’ll post one on Flickr later!